Dear Friends of the TFU,
As we announced back in January and have been doing since August of last year, we enjoy testing—and we do it a lot. We’ll continue to do so.
BUT: The latest scientific findings call for an update.
Testing with a saliva or nasal swab test (antigen) is effective when
- If symptoms are already present—the test will tell you exactly whether someone has COVID-19 or not
- you test regularly every few days. The key words are: regularly and every.
What we would all certainly have liked is a test “as needed”—for example, to make sure before an appointment that we aren’t contagious at that very moment. The PCR test offers that, but it requires advance notice. That’s why using antigen tests right before an appointment, a store visit, or a concert doesn’t quite work as well as we’d hoped.
Reason: The test only comes back positive once there are enough dead cells in the throat, because they carry the antigens (or something like that—just don’t ask me for any biomedical details).
However, it takes a few days for infected cells to die, and even before that—that is, when the cells are already producing viruses at full capacity but no symptoms have yet appeared—the test does not work properly.
That doesn’t mean that antigen tests are useless, but we want to emphasize the importance of AHA and minimizing in-person contact as much as possible.
If used regularly, however, it ensures significantly greater safety within the team, because any infection that might have slipped through the first time will certainly be detected shortly thereafter.
Our team’s strategy is to have everyone get tested at home every Monday and Thursday. We’ll continue to do that.
There is also the PCR test, which uses different criteria and detects the virus at all stages—the downside is that it takes about a day to process. We continue to offer this test at cost, and so far we’ve always received the results from the lab quickly.
Feel free to contact us when it comes to the right strategy; we work closely with people who are experts in this field.
Personally, I’ll get vaccinated as soon as it’s my turn, and I’ll let you know how it goes. Until then, whether it’s via video, phone, or in person—whatever works—we’ll definitely stay in touch.
Best regards
Yours,
Ulrike (Hudelmaier)
